NCJ Number
73747
Date Published
1979
Length
164 pages
Annotation
Types of evidence essential for criminal investigations are described to sensitize police officers first at crime scenes to the preservation of evidence.
Abstract
Evidence is discussed according to the following categories: fingerprints on various materials; impressions (e.g., footprints, tire prints, tool marks, weapons traces, and glass breakage or scrapes); and material traces (e.g., blood, hair, body fluids, traces in bodies, wood, plants, textiles, glass, glues, explosives, drugs, poisons, fingernail dirt, and clothing scraps). Also detailed are types of evidence obtained from documents (e.g., handwriting, typewriter types, printing styles, hidden writing, writing apparatus types, signs of paper patching, types of paper, fire-damaged paper, and differences in inks and writing pressure), evidence specific to the physical situation after particular crimes (e.g., body position, overturned objects, broken windows, and cut telephone wires), and contrived evidence designed to throw investigators off the trail. Every section briefly outlines what to look for at the crime scene, how to preserve the evidence, and which methods to use in interpreting evidence. Numerous photographs illustrate evidence types and their preservation. An index is supplied.